![]() The Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager, or FOXSI, is a sounding rocket experiment that takes a novel approach to this challenge. To observe this faint emission in the tumultuous context of a solar flare is a demanding requirement for any X-ray technology. For this reason, solar astrophysicists are searching for faint X-rays emanating from the hidden sites from which these events originate to understand the keys to energy release in the corona. Understanding the origins of these events is therefore of the utmost importance. When Earth-directed, these ejections can cause geomagnetic storms with the potential to threaten spacecraft, astronauts, and power grids. Solar flares are often associated with coronal mass ejections, in which huge volumes of plasma are kicked out of the corona and sent off into interplanetary space. Yet the part of this emission that most intrigues solar astrophysicists is the faintest X-ray flux, which can reveal how solar flares are triggered, how they transfer energy, and how they accelerate particles up to extraordinarily high energies. During solar flares, which temporarily heat up the corona locally to many tens of millions of degrees, a multitude of X-rays are radiated into space. The Sun gives off abundant X-rays from its fiery, multimillion-degree corona (the outermost layer of the solar atmosphere) and poses particular challenges for X-ray imaging. To deal with these challenges, a sounding rocket experiment team has developed an array of new technologies that can reveal how the Sun emits high-energy radiation, plasma, and particles. The Sun presents some unique challenges to researchers attempting to unravel its high-energy behavior. X-rays from the Sun help us probe the highest-energy phenomena that occur in our solar system, including solar storms and their origins. These speeds are so high that the particles can escape the Sun's gravity.Ĭonceptual animation (not to scale) showing the Sun's corona and solar wind.The FOXSI X-ray mirror (left) and an X-ray image of the Sun captured by the Photon Energy Imager in soft X-rays (PhoEnIX), one of FOXSI-3’s new cameras (right). The corona's temperature causes its particles to move at very high speeds. From it comes the solar wind that travels through our solar system. We can view these features in detail with special telescopes. These include streamers, loops, and plumes. The Sun's magnetic fields affect charged particles in the corona to form beautiful features. This is the force that makes magnets stick to metal, like the door of your refrigerator. The surface of the Sun is covered in magnetic fields. But astronomers think that this is only one of many ways in which the corona is heated. In the corona, the heat bombs explode and release their energy as heat. The mission discovered packets of very hot material called "heat bombs" that travel from the Sun into the corona. Yet the corona is hundreds of times hotter than the Sun’s surface.Ī NASA mission called IRIS may have provided one possible answer. The corona is in the outer layer of the Sun’s atmosphere-far from its surface. This is the opposite of what seems to happen on the Sun.Īstronomers have been trying to solve this mystery for a long time. But when you walk away from the fire, you feel cooler. ![]() Imagine that you’re sitting next to a campfire. The corona’s high temperatures are a bit of a mystery. Image of corona from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory showing features created by magnetic fields. This low density makes the corona much less bright than the surface of the Sun. Why? The corona is about 10 million times less dense than the Sun’s surface. ![]() ![]() The corona reaches extremely high temperatures. Find tips on how to safely view an eclipse here. Remember to never look directly at the Sun, even during an eclipse. ![]()
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